The Eyre Affair

A Thursday Next Novel

By: Jasper Fforde

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Alex Award—YALSA

The first in a series of outlandishly clever adventures featuring the resourceful, fearless literary detective Thursday Next—a New York Times best seller!

In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career.

Fforde's ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a website that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

Delve into Jasper Fforde's literary universe with the other books in his Thursday Next fantasy/detective series.

©2003 Jasper Fforde (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

“Neatly delivers alternate history, Monty Pythonesque comedy skits, Grand Guignol supervillains, thwarted lovers, po-mo intertextuality, political commentary, time travel, vampires, absent-minded inventors, a hard-boiled narrator, and lots, lots more. . . . Suspend your disbelief, find a quiet corner and just surrender to the storytelling voice of the unstoppable, ever-resourceful Thursday Next.”—The Washington Post

“Fforde’s imaginative novel will satiate readers looking for a Harry Potter-esque tale. . . . The Eyre Affair’s literary wonderland recalls Douglas Adams’s Hitchhikers series, the works of Lewis Carroll and Woody Allen’s The Kugelmass Episode.”—USA Today

“[Thursday Next is] part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Fun, fun, fun for book lovers!

This wonderfully fanciful story is set in a world which revolves around books. The protagonist works as a literary detective which provides a launch point for a wide assortment of interesting events. The plot thickens EVERYWHERE! There are murders and mayhem with a sprinkling of love and lust, topped with a mad scientist and a few dodos. An all-around fun read. If you like Terry Pratchett, try this one too.

Better Options Out There

Jasper Fforde is an excellent world builder, which is why is pains me that I found myself somewhat disappointed with the Eyre Affair. His far superior Shades of Grey, which I have actively recommended to everyone I know, is a clever, original, Orwellian tale that describes a society in which one's social hierarchy is determined by one's ability to see the higher/lower end of the color spectrum. The Eyre Affair has also constructed brilliant world (OK, not as great as Shades of Grey, but still engaging) filled with enough literary references to make every English major swoon. However, while entertaining, the Eyre Affair received only a 3-star rating as I found the antagonists somewhat two-dimensional.

Disappointment

The premise of the story is great and there is every reason for this to be a good book but it just didn't hold my interest. There is nothing in it to make you care about the characters or the outcome of the story. I stopped listening after listening to 60% of it.

Great book!

I read this book decades ago and found it charming. I was very pleased to find that it’s quirky humor has stood the test of time. The reader was wonderful and added to my pleasure in the story. It’s English humor and I know I missed some of the literary references but laughed out loud at the ones I got. Anyway, I hope you’ll give it a try. I’m going to download the next in the series🙂

summary doesn't do it justice

Very well written and surprisingly witty. Looking forward to hearing the next Thursday Next book!

Liked it. Didn't love it.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I like stories that involve classic literature. This was good. I just found the characters somewhat confusing for the first half of the story. And the switches in time periods.

Have you listened to any of Susan Duerden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to her before. I liked her voice and she did a really good job with the different accents

Artemis foul for adults

I liked the creative nature of the story. A bit too whimsical and loosely threaded for me at times, but I love the unique world and humor that comes along with it. A quick listen/read with a lot of redeeming fictional moments.

A favorite re-listen

A playfully imaginative story for the true booklover. The Eyre Affair is well-read in every sense.

Don't read this book ... UNLESS

If you could sum up The Eyre Affair in three words, what would they be?

If you like audio books and reading, this book will have your reading more and more. Bronte, Austin, and many more classics. The way FForde removes classic charactors and uses them in different contexts will make you go back to the originals to see if you could pick up these personality traits.
Then the clever use of alternate histories of real events, again the listener will have to review the actual history (as we know it) to get the parody and paralels.
oh yeah, once you've gone through the first book over and over until you pick up all the plot shifts, you WILL be moving on to the next book and so on ... listener beware!

What did you like best about this story?

The amount of crossed genres at first is confusing. then, once you just go with the concept of all things crossing over and through books, you will begin to wonder how far the ideas can go.

What about Susan Duerdan’s performance did you like?

well portrayed with the sarcasm and snarkiness that a real person migh experience put in situation after situation.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Jane and Heathcliff tonight, Live on 20/20.

Any additional comments?

A friend told me the basis of the plot line (jumping in and out of the books of classic litrature) and Jasper does not disappoint.

A lark for bibliophiles everywhere.

Any additional comments?

Do you love classic literature? Do you enjoy whimsy and word plays? A smile that turns into a laugh? If so, this lighthearted frolic into literary never, never land will delight you. I'm not a mystery fan but was drawn to this book by the allusion to "Jane Eyre" and I'm so glad I listened to it. Give yourself a vacation and enjoy this literary romp.